Looks like the Assembly didn’t hear that these kinds of “safe storage” laws were tossed with Heller. From Tom King, head of NYSRPA:

YOUR RIGHT TO HOME PROTECTION IS IN JEOPARDY!

Assembly Bill 3292-A is flawed legislation that will make it a crime to leave an unlocked gun in your home. We have a constitutional right to defend our homes and our loved ones. In March, well over a thousand sportsmen rallied in Albany in a demonstration of solidarity for our Second Amendment freedom. If A.3292-A becomes law then an elderly homeowner, a single woman, or a husband defending his family will now have to be worried about where the state mandated key is to unlock the gun cabinet when confronted by an intruder. The intent of the law is to make homes safer for children but far more children are harmed by accidentally ingesting household chemicals or medicines. What’s next – state mandated locks for our kitchen and medicine cabinets?
You can’t [legislate] common sense. Call your local Assemblymember and tell them to vote NO on A.3292-A.

This ostensibly is “for the children,” but I would note that this applies to any household, such as mine, that does not have children. The purpose it will serve is important, which is more gun owners being in prison. We harp on helping create more law abiding gun owners, they try, as best they can, to make it difficult to own a gun and be law abiding.

But Feldman never struck me as a tool, since he’s remained pretty faithful to gun rights. Looking over the site I have to come to the opinion that the purpose of the group is further employment for Richard Feldman, rather than any false flag campaign, or for any other nefarious purpose related to the 2012 elections. I’d just be rather curious what IFOA’s strategy and goal is, because it’s not easy to discern what they plan to accomplish that other groups are not already doing.

There’s been a lot of hubbub about the case of Marissa Alexander, a woman who pulled a gun on her abusive husband and has now been found guilty of three counts of Aggravated Assault on a Florida court, after being denied immunity under the SYG law. A superficial reading of the case in the media, and you might be readily inclined to believe this is a double standard. After looking through as many sources on the case as I could find, including original sources, I don’t believe it’s as conclusive.

There is absolutely no doubt, reading the initial deposition from her husband, that he’s pretty much scum. If she had aided his departure from the realm of the living, I wouldn’t shed a tear for him. But that’s a different matter from whether she’s legally entitled to a SYG defense. Alexander’s husband recanted much of the testimony that appears in that link, and if you read the denial of immunity, you will note that the evidence in the case comports with her having pointed the gun in his direction, and not into the air as both he and she had stated in the beginning.

Furthermore, the sequence of events in the case (click through to public access) lines up with a lot of the more detailed media reports I came across. She was originally granted bail, and told not to have contact with any of the victims. She violated that, and made contact with them, assaulted the husband, was rearrested and charged with domestic battery. Her bond on the original charge was revoked. Her attorney, at this point, motioned to withdraw as counsel and it was granted.

In any case of self-defense, your credibility is really going to be key to winning your case. Alexander, through her own actions, destroyed her own credibility. In that case, it’s going to come down to evidence, and agreed upon facts, in determining whether she acted reasonably in threatening her husband and his two children with a gun. In this case, those facts seem to point to Alexander not having a reasonable fear of grave bodily injury or death at the time she employed a firearm. When being judged by a reasonable person standard, it is very important for a jury to believe you are a reasonable person. Otherwise, as the Alexander case shows, you won’t be given benefit of doubt when testimony and facts dispute your accounting of things.

That said, Florida imposes a mandatory minimum for aggravated assault with a firearm of 20 years. This seems excessive to me for an act that ultimately did not harm anyone. It’s worth noting that the prosecution offered a plea deal that was ultimately rejected, but regardless, 20 years with no possibility of parole seems harsh. You won’t do that for armed robbery in Pennsylvania.

The Tampa Bay Times ran an op-ed yesterday, speaking of the explosion of CWL holders in the State of Florida:

They may not have those exact numbers at their fingertips at the Wyoming Antelope Club in Clearwater, but they are well aware of the trends. Seats for their $50 concealed weapons permit class (CWP) are often filled more than a month in advance.

And you may be interested to see who is sitting in those seats.

Men, yes. But almost half of the class in April was female. Hunters and gun enthusiasts, yes. But there were a fair number of people who had never before fired a gun.

This is not going to be welcome news for our opponents, but it is welcome news for us. I like hearing more women carrying. Women are far more likely to carry for the right reasons, and to take their responsibility and training more seriously.

It’s pretty clear over at places such as Uncle and Robb (the last one is really funny, go click), that Mitt Romney isn’t lighting the gun blogosphere ablaze with enthusiasm. I think the problem is that Mitt Romney is not the savior of the Republic at a time when people feel like the Republic needs one.

I recall a conversation we had with one of Bitter’s lobbyist friends when campaign 2012 was just getting started. Her friend noted that Romney was surrounding himself with the same people Bush did, and Bush Part III and Part IV are certainly not what we really need right now.

So I set my expectations for Romney low. All I’m looking for Romney to do is to replace the Chicago machine with the devil we know. I’m looking for him to make better Supreme Court and Federal Court appointments than Obama would, and I’m looking for the White House to remain accountable to voters, and have to stand for re-election in four years. That’s all I’m really expecting. I think Romney can probably also be counted on to, at least, ease off the accelerator a bit to give us more time in the game to see if we draw a winning hand in the future.

It’s worth noting that both parties are making attempts to purge their moderates. Dick Lugar is increasingly looking like he’s going down in Indiana, and the defeat of blue dog Democrats Tim Holden by a much more left-wing challenger, and the defeat of Jason Altmire by a more left-center candidate, are actually pretty remarkable in politics. This doesn’t happen often, and when it does, politicians take notice. This will be an opportunity for both parties to grow new leadership.

But that doesn’t necessary portend good things, having both parties polarized. I’m not sure where having the GOP lead far right and the Dems leading far left is going to lead. If we fight culture wars, the Democrats tend to win independents. But if we’re arguing about deficits, spending and the economy, Independents tend to follow the GOP.

But will the GOP be smart enough not to fight culture wars while we drive off the fiscal cliff? Like Nixon going to China, the Democrats are probably the only ones who can defuse the entitlement bomb. Will a far left Democratic Party be able to accomplish that? Will the GOP have political cover from Independents to do it over the objections of the left? I don’t really know. A lot is going to happen in the next decade. All I’m counting on Romney to do is give it time to play out, while we solidify our Second Amendment protections through the courts.

A gun carrying man ended a stabbing spree, which is two things our opponents say never happens wrapped into one incident, that a gun owner stopped a mass killer, and that there are such things as stabbing sprees.

If NRA is really responsible for duping ordinary gun owners with the rhetoric of fear, as our opponents claim, then why does NRA so often have to engage in rumor control? I thought it was the NRA had sole-proprietorship on fear mongering with gun owners. So where do these rumors come from? More importantly, where are the rumors from our opponents about our bills that will legalize RPGs on every street corner?

Via Uncle, we learn that NYC hipsters decided to make a movie about surviving off the grid. To do so, they decided that it would be a brilliant idea to illegally kill two deer outside of deer season and without a license. Their defense is that they didn’t even know there were hunting regulations.

The crew was practicing yoga inside the farm’s main house one day when someone spotted a herd of deer in the neighboring field. They grabbed a rifle and camera and ran outside, Dickinson said.

Actor Paul Manza, a 34-year-old Brooklyn yoga instructor who plays “Paul” the yoga instructor in the film and had no prior acting or hunting experience, pulled the trigger. It was unclear who owned the rifle or whether it was registered.

The bullet pierced one deer and passed into a second one behind it, killing the first deer and wounding the second one, Manza and Dickinson said. The crew chased the second deer into the woods and shot it again to put it out of its suffering, Manza said. …

Dickinson said he didn’t think about the legality of hunting and the crew did not secure a permit for the deer hunt — but he added that the film’s publicist, Jenny Lawhorn, is currently in discussions with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Only a jackass from New York City would send a publicist to negotiate something that, according to the article, starts with a $2,000 fine and can potentially include jail time.

Sebastian is finally back from Boston. This morning was incredible. It’s been far too long without that kind of relaxation. He finished up and then, BAM, things were ready to go again. No recovery time to speak of at all. Don’t even get me started on the force. Wow. It’s never been that powerful before. It’s amazing knowing that it can last just as long as a person can take it. It was so freakin’ HOT and STEAMY!

Of course, I’m talking about our new water heater which was finally finished today.

Due to travel, out-of-stock parts, and scheduling issues, the installation had to be split up in two and they finally made it out here early this morning. The plumber warned me that the flow rate would be lower than what we were used to, and while I was a little disappointed since higher water pressure makes washing my mass of hair much easier, I was willing to accept it. Turns out that it went the other direction because the water pressure is outstanding.

I let Sebastian take the first shower with the new water heater, and I jumped up to grab my towels so I could see if this thing was really as good as promised with not having to wait for hot water. I didn’t even stick my hand in to check the temperature first, I just jumped right in. Amazing. Seriously awesome. Hot water on demand and as much as you want with higher water pressure than before.

Don’t tell Sebastian, but I think I’m in love with the new tankless unit. Hell, I’m even excited to do laundry again.

When Connecticut Conservation Police detected the telltale aroma of marijuana coming from a popup blind located on public land during yesterday’s turkey-hunt opener, they peeked inside and saw Raymond Lass, 22, of Bristol, with a doobie between his lips instead of diaphram call under his tongue.